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Queen Mary Academy

Support for staff who manage researchers

We offer workshops designed to help you better support the mental health and wellbeing of researchers and to give you the space to think about your own wellbeing.

Sessions are aimed at members of staff who work with or support researchers, including PhD supervisors, line managers of researchers, Directors of Graduate Studies and Research Managers.

Workshops

Researcher wellbeing: Supporting the mental health and wellbeing of your researchers (AC-QMA-001)

This workshop aims to help you understand the pressures that researchers are under and the risks posed to their mental wellbeing. By the end of the workshop you will be able to recognise the signs and symptoms of common mental health problems, when a researcher is at risk and when there is a mental health crisis. You will also be able to identify when and how to intervene and provide support. Search code AC-QMA-001 on the CPD bookings site.

Online, asynchronous training

Four online training modules, developed by the University of Durham for PhD students and their supervisors, are available to Queen Mary staff. The courses aim to increase mental health awareness and help you recognise and name distress.

You can access these courses on QMplus, in the page 'Wellbeing for Researchers'. Please log onto QMplus with your Queen Mary credentials and click on 'self-enrol'.

Fundamentals of mental health

A brief summary of the key issues all researchers and supervisors should know to improve mental health awareness.

Researcher mental health: Evidence and experience

A review of the evidence and research literature on the factors contributing to mental health issues among PhD students and a summary of the role supervisors can play in supporting the mental health of researchers they supervise/manage.

Mental Health First Aid in the context of PhD study and supervision

An adaptation of Mental Health First Aid tailored for the PhD population, with information on common conditions and the skills of interventions and signposting for students and peers.

PhD supervision in the context of mental health difficulties

This module investigates how the process of PGR supervision may be impacted if a student is experiencing difficulties. It uses a Case Study approach to demonstrate the challenges with discussion points for review. A framework and tools are offered to help both students and supervisors reflect on any difficulties in the supervisory processes arising from mental health, either for self-reflection or to support all parties to address the issues within the supervision or with third party support.

For more information contact resdev@qmul.ac.uk 

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